Rulani Mokwena has shed some light on his clairvoyant statement about the success of Mamelodi Sundowns being “written in the stars” ahead of their African Football League (AFL) final on Sunday.
Sundowns host Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco in the second leg of the inaugural AFL final at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria. Kick-off time is 3.30pm.
Mokwena and his Sundowns are on the cusp of making history by becoming the first team to win the AFL. Standing in their way is Wydad, who boast slender 2-1 lead from the first leg in Morocco last Saturday.
After their commanding 2-0 win over Petro Luanda in the quarter-finals and a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Al Ahly in the semi-finals, Mokwena said his side have an opportunity to avenge all their upset that was caused by all the three teams in the CAF Champions League recently.
“Listen to me, you [players] will decide to write another story, only you,” Mokwena said after their win against Al Ahly.
“In the last three seasons of the Champions League we got knocked out by Petro, and we were then knocked out by Wydad.
“So, Wydad is coming next. Now we finished with Al Ahly and before Al Ahly it was Petro.
“You must finish it [by beating Wydad]. It’s written in the stars. You have got to believe it.”
Brazilians dealing with old nemesis
During the press conference ahead of the much-anticipated clash at Loftus Versfeld on Friday, Mokwena said his charges must work hard to align the stars and fulfil his prediction.
“After I arrived at Sundowns [in 2020] the first Champions League exit was a quarter-final to Al Ahly,” Mokwena said.
“The second season quarterfinal exit was to Petro and last season, in the semi-finals was against Wydad. So, all our three exits in the Champions League were against all these teams that I mentioned.
“So, the story written this year is that we started against Petro [in the AFL quarterfinal], the followed by Al Ahly – a foe that knocked us out the previous season before Wydad last season.
“Just because it’s written in the stars it doesn’t mean the stars are aligned. Our responsibility now is to align the stars and that is the message.”
